Project Manager Roles and Responsibilities

A project manager is the person that is responsible for delivering a project to its final stage and reaching its end goal. The roles and responsibilities of a project manager which could also be called project director roles and responsibilities, are wide-ranging. They are the leader of the team performing the tasks of the project and are given responsibility by the project board.

One of the functions of a project manager is encouraging those around them to see the need for a transformation or change within a business area. This role is fundamental is setting a tone of readiness for change throughout the business so that the project can make a successful and positive impact.

On top of the leadership role a project manager plays, they have a set of specific responsibilities such as the following:

Designing and following appropriate project management standards.
Managing the production and progress of project deliverables. This can be done with the help of Sinnaps project management software online which visually portrays a project’s progress to all involved.
Planning and monitoring the project. Planning can be done with the involvement of team members and sponsors, who will be happy to give input and e motivated by the inclusion.
Maintaining the project on track and keeping up to date with required reports. This is a very important responsibility of a project manager.
Managing project risks. This can be done through the development of contingency plans which set out how a risk will be dealt with when it turns into a likely threat. Risks are important to monitor and manage because if they are left unattended, they can cause real harm to a project.
Monitor overall progress and resource use. It is important for project managers to take corrective measures where needed. Sinnaps online scheduling app allows managers to spot bottlenecks in the project before they cause damage and to correct anything that needs correcting.
Keeping in consideration certain interdependencies with other on-going projects and their potential impacts. This responsibility of a project manager can essentially make or break a project.
Making sure that appropriate technical and quality standards are applied.
Finding and obtaining the appropriate support and advice required for the running of the project.
Managing stakeholder expectations and feedback. Stakeholder have a significant stake in projects and make clear what they expect and they expect to be kept up to date. Project stakeholders roles and responsibilities also play a part in project management.
Evaluating the effectiveness of project management at the end of the project. This is important to learn from for future projects and can only lead to improvement.
Preparing any follow-on action recommendations is also one of a project manager duties and responsibilities that must be up-kept.

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Project Manager Resume

Now that we know the roles and responsibilities of a project manager, we will look at how to put them on paper-a resume. Like every professional, your resume says a lot about you. It tends to be the case that every professional field has a certain style of resume that is deemed as appropriate and should portray a certain image. For a project manager, a resume should demonstrate your ability to bridge the potential gap between administration and teams. It is important to highlight technical, organisational and administrative skills through real-life examples and experiences.

The roles and responsibilities of project manager life are clear. The skills that should be included in your resume and backed up by previous experience are:

Team management
Project initiation
Project planning
Accountability
Control
Internal and external communication

These skills are great to include, but what will really make your resume stand out as a true project manager are real life examples and success stories. Project manager interview questions and answers are focused on these specific skills. Stories and examples from your past such as budgeting, improved efficiency, managing multi-teams and previous successful strategies adopted will serve you greatly. They are also greatly focused upon in project manager interview questions and answers.

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Project Manager Duties

The role and responsibility of project manager work plays a significant part in a project reaching its objective. The duties of a project manager describe what specific tasks he/she must carry out during their role as leader of a project team. These include:

Planning and Defining Scope: Each project is different and each project has a different scope. It is important for project managers to define a project’s scope and plan accordingly so as to be ready for what may come.

Activity Planning and Sequencing: A project is made up of numerous activities after it is broken up into smaller blocks. These activities need to be identified as must their order and certain dependencies. Sinnaps, the online project management software tool helps project managers to do this automatically and identifies the project’s critical path for them.

Planning Resources: Resources are essential to a projects execution. Without them, the project would be nearly impossible to carry out. Due to this importance, it is essential to keep track of them and manage them carefully something for which a project manager is responsible. An online project management and planning toll such as Sinnaps helps project managers to keep track of resources effectively with an online resource tracking tool.

Developing Schedules: A schedule helps a project to stay on track through a visualisation of its planned progress. Team members will become aware of when a certain task needs to start or end. This will help the project to work towards staying within a certain timeframe.

Time Estimation: It is important for project managers to estimate the time each task or activity will take as well as the total time of the project. This information needs to be gathered before starting a project and presented to sponsors and stakeholders to get the ‘go-ahead’. This role and responsibilities of project manager workers is key to keeping within a certain timeframe.

Cost Estimation: Before are project begins execution or is even given the ‘go-ahead’, a cost estimation must be drawn up to present to stakeholders of the project.

Developing a Budget: A budget is important to project management and it is the duty of the project manager to develop one. This keeps the project under control and serves as a barrier against extreme over-spending that in the future could be harmful not only to the project, but also to the business.

Documentation/Reporting: Documentation is a central part of project management and there are many types of reports that need to be filled out throughout the running of a project. Typically, the project manager will be in charge of this duty and the filling out of reports. Cloud-based software such as Sinnaps helps project managers to keep these important documents safe and in one place for easy access.

Assistant Project Manager

Assistant project managers generally enjoy the best of both worlds. They have the opportunity to watch and have a significant impact on how the project unfolds. They also carry a significant amount of responsibility, not as much as the project manager and more that a project team member. Their roles and duties generally include:

Being the PM’s shadow: A project manager assistant must be aware of how to contact the project manager at any time, complete the tasks they are assigned and keep communication timely and consistent.

Understanding where a project manager’s duties end and theirs begin: A project manager assistant must understand the decision-making power they too have and keep communication clear in order to be sure of what is required of them.

Understanding the scope of the project: It is important that they are just as aware of the project and all its aspects as the project manager. A t any point the project manager may need to step down for a period of time, the power will be in the assistant’s hands and therefore a good understanding of the project is required.

Evaluating project progress: This is basically shadowing the PM’s work and also keeping track of project progress. It is useful in the case that the PM misses something and the assistant is there to point it out. Potential problems are less likely to go unnoticed.

Investigator/Researcher: Constant research is key for an assistant project manager. At any point, there may be a need to replace somebody, the assistant’s role is to have researched the best options so as to not lose much time.

Performing tasks for the PM: These can include administrative tasks, such as updating reports or schedules or responding to e-mails and making phone calls. Overall an assistant project manager serves as great support to a project manager and helps to alleviate some of the workload so that everyone can work to their highest potential.

Project Team Roles and Responsibilities

Do project team members roles and responsibilities play a part in project management? A project teamis just as important to a project’s successful outcome as a project manager. It is a group of people brought together to support and work together to reach a common goal. Depending on the type of project being carried out and the phase that its development is in, team members have various roles and responsibilities such as the following:

Contributing to overall project objectives: Team members should work towards the desired goal of the project. This can be improved through mutual support of team members and involvement by the project manager.

Completing individual deliverables: A team is always comprised of individuals that may have individual tasks to complete. It is important that these tasks are completed on time as other tasks may be dependent on them.

Providing expertise and knowledge: Many times, a team is comprised of individuals specially for their expertise and knowledge in a certain area that can help the team to reach the project’s goal in an effective way.

Working with users to establish and meet business needs: Team members usually have primary contact with the user of the project’s result as they are so familiar with the project and what it will deliver to the user in the end.

Documenting the process: Although project managers hold the biggest responsibility for reporting, team members must also be involved in the process and keep track of certain aspects that later will need to be reported. Team member can easily help to document the project process using online project management apps such as Sinnaps where real-time instant chat and a social-media like board will help to keep everything change noted and documented.

Project Coordinator Responsibilities

A project coordinator works under a project manager and helps to ensure that projects are completed within the specified timeframe and budget. The role of a project coordinator is to make sure of a project’s smooth-running.

They are responsible for the correct coordination of activities and tasks, resources, equipment and information. They must take interdependencies into consideration and follow a project’s critical path. In truth, project coordinator roles and responsibilities are not far from the duties and responsibilities of project manager. Online project management apps such as Sinnaps can help with immensely. Any coordination issues that cannot be resolved are escalated to the project manager.

Communication is one of the key duties of a project coordinator as it is in every area of a project and trust plays a big role. Project coordinators must be fully informed so that they can make the right decisions when it comes down to their task of coordinating.

Multicultural issues must be taken into consideration by project coordinators and their potential impacts on how the team and project functions. Misunderstandings are common and must be evaded as often as possible. A project coordinator must understand the effects of multiculturality and be a trustworthy person towards which team members feel open and comfortable.

Task assignment is another responsibility of a project coordinator. It should be based on the aptitude of team members and taking into consideration who best fits the role. It is essential to make sure that an individual is not overloaded with tasks or that someone is left doing nothing.

This comes into play when coordinating a team as well. Project coordinators should be familiar with team members and how they function together, whether they can function in pairs on certain tasks or work better individually. The responsibilities of a project coordinator have a great impact on a project’s progress and if carried out correctly can add value to the management of the project.

Project Coordinator Skills

There are certain qualities of a project manager and similarly, certain qualities of a project coordinator. A project coordinator should also possess a certain skillset for them to be successful in their job and various roles and responsibilities. Some of these skills include:

Coordination skills

Organisation skills

Adaptability

Versatility

Administrative Skills

Problem-solving Skills

This set of skills will aid project coordinators in the tasks they must carry out and make sure the project is following objectives and reaching its goal.

A project is something that cannot be carried out without the hard work and dedication of people. Sometimes a project is small and consists of only a few members and a manager. Other times, projects are vast in size and consist of many people, both internal and external to the organisation. The one thing all projects have in common is the value placed on a truly passionate team and a skilled project manager in helping the project to reach its goal.

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